Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-02-26
EARLY DAYS ON THE MISSOURI.
A Story From Facts.

Missouri that is now known as low;
and Nebraska, was called the extrem,
frontier. A swarm of hardy adven
turers had passed across it, bestowins
scarcely a thought upon the wealth o
rolling prairies, as with feverish i'm
aginations they rushed toward the
Golden Gate. A few less ambitious
weared by their long march from the
east, gave up the phantom chase, and
river, began to real their homes.
OF this number were two families
from the chivalric hills Of Kentucky,
named Jewett and Vincent. They had
started from their old homes, filled
with the scintillations of a hope of
wealth TO be gathered on the
shores of the peaceful" sea. Time
and travel and toll had cooled their
ardor to such an extent that when thay
reached the banks of the Missouri, at "A
point a few miles below Nebraska City,
it was no disappointment to find no
means of crossing at hand. The scene
around them was inviting. Why not
stake a claim among the tall grasses
of the Iowa bottomsp The time for
autumn, and the rich hazy sunlight
that flooded the prairies charmed them.
Each family, like most Kentucky
mountain families, consisted of boys
and girls in the regulation order from
three to twenty-one years. Houses
were built close together-houses of
the kind that have sheltered the noblest
men and women of the west-houses.
built from the sods of the prairie, de-
flying, alike. the storms of summer and
the SHOWS of winter.
Neighbors were scarce, but of that
class whose fame for generosity has
loated from the western frontier, till
all the civilized world has sung its
praises.
The nearest market was Nebraska
City. then a depot of supplies for the
caravans that frequently set out to
thread the mazes of the plains.
All preparation possible was made
TO meet the terrors Of the coming win
ter. But winter tarried. October came
and passed. November wrapped in
the same mellow light, wore otill an
October hue. Not until the new wear
took its place in the cycle Of time did
the elements presage any change in the
perfect, autumnal scene. One morn
ing, however, in the first week in Janu-
AIRY. the haze was lifted from the prai-
rie, and i'm its stead a chilling wind
from the cold, grey clouds of the north
west. swept down the bottom and play
ed like a thousand Eolian harps. it's
sad melody upon the dried blades of
tall grasses. The river, from the melt
ing SHOWS of its mountain home, had
been full to its banks through all the
placid autumn. Toward evening, the
clouds grew darker, the wind blew
shriller. colder, more titful. Hardly
had the stock been sheltered in the
stables of bush, when a few white
shots from the advance pickets of the
gave warning of the nearness of
a storm. Night came, and with it the
blackened wings of the tempest. For
days it ragged almost necessarily. The
tufts of grass, strong enough to stand
the first rude gusts, became domes of
snowfall else save the rivers and hills,
one sea of crystal white,
Inside the new sod abodes the time
Ial nnsSaJ mt ruploasaptjr NN;th
games and song and laughter. they
had, indeed, been merry prisoners. At
last. toward one evening, the wind died
away in 4 sullen moan, and DER the
tops of the tall Nebraska bluffs the sun
sent his pale welcome to the valley be-
low.
The storm had passed. The night
vas beautifully clear; but, ali! so cold.
The morning found the river locked
from shore to sEore-the enc gray spot
dpon the white-veiled face Of nature.
Lost to the world without, the two
families We'd with each other in max
ing a pleasant little world Of their own.
For several days, no serious doubts
them, but when more than a
week had come and. gone, and the sun
std rose from n bed of ice To pillow a
field Of frost all day and send his eve
ming glances from a peak of snow, the
older people talked somewhat timidly
of vanishing supplies. Another week
had passed. week filed with dis
turbing thoughts. softened only by a
of hope-the impregnable fortress
of the brave. The time came for ac-
Supplies must be obtained. Life
and death was the issue. throughout
the day the sun shed around hem his
delusive warmth, The nights were
bitter cold. One evening. gathe; ed at
the home of the Vincents, the families
discussed the situation. Plan after
plan was suggested. but dis
posed of as impossible. Al
last the elder two boys. Carl
Vincent and Ray Jewett, hit upon some
thing, as they thought, at least feasible.
They broached it to the old people, but
at first it met with little encouragement
from that source. At last Carl. who
had been the originator of the plan.
said "Something has to be done. and
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